


The impossible task of asking Cyrus Goodman out

by shipsandglitter



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Ambi and Muffy if you squint, Andi is sweet as always - Freeform, But TJ is a disaster gay so it's a bit of a challenge, Cyrus is precious and deserves the whole world - Freeform, Dorks in Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, He helps TJ put on eyeshadow - it's great - Freeform, M/M, Marty helps TJ ask Cyrus out - Freeform, Meanwhile Buffy is completely done with both of these idiots - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Oblivious!TJ and Oblivious!Cyrus - Freeform, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tyrus - Freeform, Very slight emotional hurt/comfort - Freeform, slight jealousy, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 05:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17197487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsandglitter/pseuds/shipsandglitter
Summary: After telling Marty about his crush on Cyrus, he offers to help TJ ask the boy out.What could possibly go wrong?





	The impossible task of asking Cyrus Goodman out

**Author's Note:**

> The lack of Tyrus content during the hiatus was killing me, so this happened! As quick heads-up, there will be a few short texting conversations in this.
> 
> Minimal angst because my boys deserve to be happy.

“You like him, don’t you?"

The question caught TJ off guard; especially seeing as it was coming from Marty of all people. The boy had only been back for a few days; how could he  _possibly_ have come to that conclusion so fast?

He wanted to ask if his crush on Cyrus was really that obvious, but a quiet “What?” was all that ended up leaving his mouth.

“Cyrus,” Marty supplied, “you like him, right?”

“Uh - no I don’t.” he said defensively.

The boy scoffed and grabbed the basketball from TJ’s hands, raising an amused eyebrow. “What’s distracting you, then? The bench?”

“Nothing’s distracting me.”

“Sure. You know I just got two baskets, right?”

“You  _what_?”

Marty grinned, before poising for another basket and shooting. The ball streaked through the air over TJ’s head, before falling through the basket with a soft swish.

“Good job, Marty!” Cyrus called.

TJ rolled his eyes as he watched the boy collect the ball and jog back over to him, grinning.

“I could do that in my sleep.” 

“Oh yeah?”

The taller boy smirked and grabbed the ball, trying his best to seem casual as he threw it over his shoulder towards the hoop. He didn’t turn back around until he heard Cyrus’ cheers, clearly indicating that he had gotten a basket.

Marty, if anything, looked even more amused by this. “Showing off, huh? Nice.”

“I’m  _not_ showing off.” 

“Of course you aren’t,” he soothed teasingly. “Cyrus  _did_ look pretty impressed though.”

TJ glanced curiously at the boy, who was sitting on the sidelines looking frustratingly adorable in an oversized hoodie. Cyrus flashed him a thumbs-up, and his traitorous heart fluttered.

Marty snorted. “You totally just checked to see.” 

“It was a casual  _glance!_ ” TJ defended. “Now -  in case you’ve forgotten -  _I’m_ the teacher here, so be quiet and pass me the ball.”

“You’re  _not_ my teacher!” 

“I’m teaching you how to be better at basketball, aren’t I?”

Marty scoffed, before throwing the ball at TJ. “Whatever.”

 

~

 

TJ was up late that night. This wasn’t a rare occurrence by any means, but on this particular night he was agonising over whether to come clean to Marty about his crush on Cyrus. He was well past the stage of questioning his feelings after all; he  _knew_ that he liked Cyrus, but he  _hated_ the idea of telling anyone about it. 

Surprisingly enough, Marty seemed like a relatively safe option. He was the one who had asked TJ about his crush on Cyrus in the first place, which was a very good sign that he didn’t care about TJ being gay. He also wasn’t particularly close to Cyrus, so he didn’t have much of an obligation to tell the boy that TJ liked him. Plus - overall, Marty was a pretty nice guy. Right?

_Okay - final plan - he’d tell Marty if the topic came up...and if he was feeling brave enough._

 

~

 

“That was better! Remember though - try not to overthink your technique before you shoot, you seemed a bit hesitant there.”

Marty, who was very red-faced by now, gave him a look of disbelief. “So you’re all like ‘Finish with a relaxed wrist Marty, hold your follow through Marty, adjust your stance Marty,’ and  _then_ you tell me not to overthink my technique?”

“Yup.”

“I can’t believe this!”

TJ laughed. “It’ll become natural to you, don’t worry. How about we end it there for today?”

“Yes please,” The boy groaned.

Marty walked over to pick up his drink bottle, while TJ jogged away to place the basketball in the storage closet. As he headed back over to the other boy, he could feel a swarm of nervous butterflies fluttering around in his stomach.

“No Cyrus today, huh?”

TJ could feel his heart racing now. He shook his head, choosing to pointedly ignore Marty’s amused smile. “Nope. He has an essay to write.” 

“That’s a shame.”

“Yeah.” 

“Do...you actually like him by the way? I mean, it seems like you do, but...” 

 _Well. This was it. If he told Marty now, he’d be the first person to know officially._  

“Yeah,” TJ sighed reluctantly, “I do. And it’s bad.”

They had reached the change-rooms by now, but neither of them moved to grab their things. Marty’s teasing smile had melted into something kinder.

“How bad are we talking here?”

“Well...I ate all 12 of the muffins he baked for me, even though they were some of the worst muffins I’ve tasted. Like ever. Then - that same day, I was so busy staring at him while he laughed with his friends, that I walked into a pole.  _Then_ I walked into another pole like two seconds later because he smiled at me.”

Marty let out a small, disbelieving laugh. “Cool! So...very bad?”

TJ sighed again and nodded.

“That’s fine! At least you know that you like him - all you have to do now is ask him out.”

“ _Ask him out_?”

“Well yeah...that’s generally what people do when they like someone.”

“I can’t do that!” 

Marty rolled his eyes as he walked across the change-room to grab their bags. “And why not?”

TJ looked after him, his eyes wide. “Do you  _want_ me to list the reasons? Because I will.”

“Spare me,” the boy said with a wince, “but seriously dude, I’ll help you ask him out.”

“Oh, right - because you’re the expert. How’s Buffy going again?”

Marty handed TJ his bag with a scoff. “She’s  _fine_ , thanks. And I’ll have you know I had a girlfriend while I was away.”

“How long did that last?”

“...A week.”

TJ couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Nice one.”

“Look - do you want my help or not?”

The taller boy’s smile slipped, and he looked hesitantly down at the ground. 

He knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with Cyrus alone... _and_ he supposed that a week-long girlfriend would’ve still required Marty to ask her out in the first place. It was definitely miles better than TJ, who could confidently say he had next to no dating experience whatsoever. 

What could possibly go wrong?

 _A lot of things,_  he couldn’t help but think.

TJ looked back up at Marty for a few moments, before sighing in defeat. “Yeah. I do.”

“Great!  _You_ can help me with basketball, and  _I’ll_ help you ask Cyrus out. Our first meeting is at lunch tomorrow - meet me in Room 14.”

“But...I’m supposed to sit with Cyrus at lunch.”

Marty smirked. “Exactly.”

With that, the boy slung his bag over his shoulder and strolled out of the change-rooms. TJ looked after him in disbelief, before rolling his eyes and jogging out after him.

 

~

 

TJ shot Cyrus a longing glance as he swept past the cafeteria. He had just suffered through maths, and although admittedly it had gotten better since he came clean about potentially having dyscalculia, it still wasn’t fun by any means. He wanted nothing more than to walk right in there, sit next to Cyrus and listen to him rant excitedly about a cute animal he seen, or a cool movie he had seen, or  _anything_  that wasn’t maths.

Instead though, he walked straight past the cafeteria and down the corridor to room 14. He peered through the window for a moment, before walking inside reluctantly and closing the door behind him. 

He sat down across from the boy with an annoyed huff.

“Well hello to you too.” 

“Is this going to take all lunch? I’m missing out on my daily dose of listening to Cyrus talk for 45 minutes straight.” 

Marty mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘Whipped’, before clearing his throat.

“It’s probably going to take most of lunch. That is - if I want to prove my point anyway.”

“...And what point is that exactly?”

The boy jumped off the table with a smile. “You’ll see. But first - let’s talk about our action plan.”

“Our  _action plan_?”

“Yeah, you know what they are right? A detailed outline of steps-“

“I  _know_ what an action plan is. Why do we need one?”

“Uh, I think the real question is - why are you questioning the dating expert’s judgement?”

TJ sighed heavily and nodded in resignation. “Okay, fine. Hit me.” 

Marty grinned. “Great! So, after careful consideration, I’ve decided that there’ll be two phases.”

“ _Careful_ consideration?”

“...Okay fine, I thought it up on the way here. But it’ll work, I promise.”

“Sure. So what are the phases?”

“I’m very glad you asked!” He said, moving to stand in front of the board.

He picked up a random whiteboard marker, before writing ‘Phase 1’ in big lettering.

“First, since you’re the most oblivious person ever, I need to get you to realise that Cyrus likes you back. Based off what I’ve seen already, you’d be a complete disaster if you asked him without knowing how he feels.”

TJ scoffed as he watched Marty scribble down words underneath the heading. “Really?  _That’s_ phase 1? I hate to break it to you, but we’ll never pass it.”

“Well that’s awfully cynical of you, considering we haven’t even  _started_ yet.”

TJ just pressed his lips together, unable to admit that the boy had a fair point.

“You’re in luck anyway!” Marty continued, “part of this phase will be trying to impress Cyrus - make him realise he likes you, ya know?”

“ _Impress_  Cyrus?”

Marty turned around to glare at the boy. “Yeah, I know right - actually  _impressing_ someone you like? Must be a totally foreign concept to you, huh?”

“Very funny,” TJ deadpanned, “so if that’s phase 1 - what’s phase 2?”

The boy smirked and turned back to the board, writing the ‘Phase 2’ directly next to Phase 1. “Take a guess, TJ.”

“...Is it the part where I actually ask him out?”

“You got it!”

TJ quirked an amused eyebrow, watching as Marty scribbled down the words underneath the second heading. “So this is the action plan?”

“Well...not really - it’s just a vague outline.”

“Gotcha. What sort of time-frame are we looking at here?”

“Hmm...like a week?”

The athlete could feel butterflies in his stomach all over again. _A week?_  

“So...you’re saying that I could have a boyfriend by the end of this week?”

“If you don’t screw up, then yeah!” 

Marty chuckled at the mortified look on TJ’s face, and walked over to pat the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

“Says you.  _You’ve_  never had to ask out the cutest boy in the whole world.”

“Okay - sure Cyrus is cute and all, but I really don’t think he’s the cutest boy in the world.”

TJ buried his face in his hands with an groan. “He might as well be!” came the muffled reply.

Marty laughed at that, before walking back over to the board. “Seriously dude, don’t worry about it. You might wanna take a picture of this before I rub it all off, by the way.”

TJ slowly raised his head, confusion written on his face. “Are we done now?”

“...No.”

“Then  _why_ are you rubbing it off?”

Marty smirked, and merely gave the boy a shrug as he pulled out his phone and took a photo of the board.  “I’ll send it to you,” he said as he began to rub off the words.

_If this had anything to do with that 'point' Marty was trying to make..._

TJ gave the boy a weary glance. “Why are you acting so suspicious?”

“Well,” Marty started, carefully replacing the whiteboard eraser. “Let’s just say phase 1 may be starting sooner than you think.” 

“ _What_? I swear, Marty-“

As if on cue, the door swung open and Cyrus waltzed inside, a bright smile on his lips. TJ's heart skipped a beat at the mere sight of him.

“There you are - I’ve been looking all over for you! What are you doing in here? Oh, and hey Marty!”

The boy grinned. “Hey Cyrus.”

TJ opened his mouth to respond, but he quickly clamped it shut again. He shot Marty the iciest death glare he could manage, before walking hesitantly up to the boy with a soft smile. 

“I was just going through some basketball stuff with Marty...but that doesn’t matter, wanna go hang out in the library?” 

“Yes! I  _have_ to show you this book I found, it has a literal time-travelling space dog! Like the one from that terrible script I wrote, except better!” 

With that, Cyrus took his hand and began tugging him out of the room. TJ smiled fondly at the boy, before glancing back briefly at Marty. He had an knowing smile on his lips, and when he saw TJ looking at him he mouthed ‘Go get him!’

He looked back down at Cyrus’ hand in his, and could barely contain a giddy grin.

 

~

 

 **Marty:**  HE LITERALLY LOOKED FOR YOU AT LUNCH

 **Marty:**  HE DITCHED ANDI AND BUFFY TO FIND YOU AND HANG OUT WITH YOU

 **Marty:**  AND CAME STRAIGHT TO ROOM 14 WHEN I MESSAGED HIM

 **Marty:**  please don’t tell me you need more proof than that

 **TJ:** So that’s the point you were trying to prove?

 **Marty:** duh

 **TJ:**  Well I’m still not sold. We’re just good friends.

 **Marty:**  oh whatever. tell me what you guys talked about

 **TJ:** Hmm

 **TJ:** Well, we talked abt writing a script together

 **TJ:** We brainstormed some ideas, then we talked abt books we both liked

 **TJ:** Then I may have accidentally told him he was cute

 **Marty:** WHAT

 **Marty:** what was his reaction?

 **TJ:**  His face went kinda red I guess? And he just said ‘Thanks TJ’

 **TJ:**  Pretty friendly reaction if you ask me

 **Marty:**  ...

 **Marty:** on second thought, phase 1 might be harder than I expected 

 

~

 

TJ was almost entirely sure that Cyrus didn’t like him - and never would. Sure, he knew the boy was gay, but there had to be a million guys he could like that were better than TJ. Why would it be  _him_?

Nonetheless, for some wild reason he couldn't help but feel the slightest amount of hope. Marty thought Cyrus liked him - that had to count for _something_ , right. 

“So. Your goal for the next few days is to impress Cyrus and make him realise he likes you - that is - if he hasn’t already.”

TJ raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay...but will this meeting take long? I have class in 10 minutes.”

“That’s more than enough time,” Marty insisted. “Anyway, the first thing I wanted to stress is subtlety - you can’t just change who you are entirely or he’ll notice. Instead, just be chill - casually compliment him, casually show off, casually try to be funny, that sort of thing.”

“Right. So the key word here is ‘casually?’”

“Exactly - you can’t make anything seem fake.”

“Alright...well should I change my clothes?”

“Absolutely not.” 

The athlete laughed slightly. “Why not?”

Marty placed his hands on TJ’s shoulders. “Dude - there’s a reason he likes you! You can’t go changing your appearance now! Besides - your disastrous jean and hoodie combos give off major gay vibes, and we wouldn’t want to wreck that.”

“They’re not disastrous!” he spluttered.

“They  _are_ \- but I’m not going to argue about that right now. You should also start with small gestures...like, buying him a muffin at lunch? Or helping him more with that script...or just going out of your way to hang out with him. Some flirting wouldn’t hurt either, just to show him that you’re interested.”

TJ slowly shook his head and stood up. “Gotcha, but I really need to leave now.”

“Okay, one more thing though - don’t forget to prolong your eye contact! And make your touches linger a little.”

“...Right.”

The boy gave him a pointed look, so he sighed heavily and added “I promise I’ll remember.”

“Good, because he’s right there.”

"Right _where_?" 

Marty rolled his eyes and nodded to a spot behind TJ. The taller boy whirled around, and sure enough - Cyrus was standing alone at the end of the corridor. The ridiculous butterflies in his stomach immediately started up, and he couldn't help a small, exasperated sigh.

_“Go!"_

“Okay, okay.” 

He hugged his books tightly to chest as he wove through the swarms of people, eventually reaching Cyrus with a bright grin. 

“Hey Underdog!”

“Hey!”  

They began to walk to class together from there.

“So, what’s going on with you?” TJ asked him.

“Um...not much.” 

The athlete gave him a confused look. “Not much? That’s a little unusual for you.”

“Yeah...maybe,” Cyrus mumbled, looking down at the ground.

“So...no space-dogs? Or chipmunks with broken legs on the walk home? Or new reptile documentaries?”

“Nope.”

“...Okay. Well, what’d you get up to last night?”

Cyrus was nervously playing with his pencil case zipper now, and TJ couldn’t help but frown. _Was he the one making him nervous?_

“...Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.

“I’m fine! I, uh...actually watched some basketball last night.”

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“No reason - I just...wanted to.”

_Okay. Now he was getting worried._

TJ’s frown deepened, and he gently pulled Cyrus aside to avoid the pushy crowds. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

The taller boy quirked a disbelieving eyebrow. Cyrus looked down at the ground with a deflated sigh. 

“TJ - be honest with me - am I lame?

“ _What_? Who said that to you? I swear I’ll-“

“No one said it to me.”

The athlete softened at that, placing a hand on Cyrus’ shoulder. “So you think you’re lame?”

The boy just shrugged. TJ could tell he was going for nonchalance, but the slight frown on his face betrayed him.

“But...why?”

“I don’t know... _all_ of the boys I know are interested in sports and stuff, like you and Marty...even Jonah. Then there’s me, who’s interested in reptiles and books that have time travelling space-dogs in them. You’re telling me that’s not lame?”

TJ was still staring at him in disbelief. The bell sounded when he opened his mouth to respond, and he let out a frustrated sigh.

“You should go,” Cyrus mumbled, lowering his gaze to the floor again.

“I honestly couldn’t care less about being late right now. Cyrus, you’re the coolest person I know! I love talking to  _you_ even more than I do Jonah or Marty...no offence to them obviously, they’re cool and all, but so are you. And I’ll fight anyone who thinks otherwise.”

Cyrus couldn’t help but giggle slightly at that, and the sound was far too adorable for the athlete’s heart to handle. 

“Thanks, TJ...for the record, I love talking to you too...and you’re also the coolest person I know, but don’t tell Buffy I said that.”

TJ wrapped an arm around his shoulders, smiling fondly at the boy. “I promise I won’t. Wanna get baby taters after school?”

“Always.”

With that, they headed to class again.

 

~

 

At lunch TJ tried to ignore Marty’s attempts to silently communicate with him, but he failed miserably. To be fair - the boy  _was_ practically sending him meaningful glances every two seconds.

TJ sighed. _How does flirting work again?_

He looked over at the boy next to him, who was chatting animatedly to Buffy and Andi. He took a deep breath, and tried to feign confidence as he casually wrapped an arm around Cyrus. “So, what are you guys talking about?” 

Marty snorted, which he very obviously tried to conceal with a cough. 

Cyrus turned to look at TJ with a bright smile. “We were talking about Jonah’s ultimate game! He totally crushed it.”

TJ felt a twinge of jealously at that, and he shot Marty an unsure glance. The boy nodded encouragingly and gestured for him to continue.

“That’s uh...that’s great!” he stammered.

Buffy gave him a suspicious look, and suddenly he felt a whole lot more nervous - she had been shooting him glances like that ever since he had bought Cyrus that muffin at the start of lunch. 

“Yeah,” Cyrus sighed. “I wish  _I_ could actually catch a frisbee. Or just throw one, honestly.” 

The words slipped out before he could stop them. “I could help you with that if you wanted?”

The boy’s face lit up with excitement. “Really? You think I could do it?”

“I mean - you rode a dirt bike, didn’t you?”

“...I guess I did.” Cyrus agreed, smiling wide.

“Maybe we could head down to the park and practise after we get some baby taters?”

“That sounds great!”

“Cool! It’s a - um, it’s...a hang out!” 

Marty face-palmed at that, which earned him a few strange looks from the others.

“Cool. A hang out. Totally,” Cyrus agreed.

Something about it seemed half-hearted, but TJ was probably just being hopeful.

 

~

 

As it turned out - Marty seemed to agree that Cyrus’ response had been somewhat half-hearted. TJ couldn’t help but think that the boy was just hearing what he wanted to hear. Surely - if Cyrus had been disappointed that it wasn’t a date - that could only mean one thing. And he knew for a fact that thing wasn’t true. It never would be.

“It was going so well! He seemed so impressed!”

“I  _know,”_  TJ groaned.

“Please, for the love of god  _please_ , tell me you know how to play ultimate.”

“Well I haven’t played before, but it can’t be that hard can it? You just throw a frisbee around. Also, he said he just wanted to be able to throw and catch a frisbee, and I can  _definitely_ do that.”

“Sure. You know frisbees are a bit different to basketballs, right?”

“ _Really_? I had no idea.”

Marty rolled his eyes. “Just throw in some flirting, okay? And try not to screw up.”

“ _Me_?  _Screw_ up? Impossible.”

“Good to see you’ve got the fake confidence down.”

TJ snorted at that. “Whatever. Cyrus is coming out of English now so I have to go. I’ll message you later?”

Marty nodded, looking after the boy as he jogged away with an exasperated sigh.

 

~

 

That afternoon, Cyrus and TJ headed down to their normal park after getting baby taters at The Spoon (which TJ insisted on paying for.) There was a slightly cool breeze, but the sky was cloudless and the sun was still out.

TJ had borrowed a slightly obnoxious looking rainbow frisbee from Jonah, which was admittedly pretty fitting when he thought about it.

“So you’re definitely aware that I have no athletic ability, right?”

He gave the boy a fond smile. “Everyone has some athletic ability, Underdog.  You’ll be fine - just show me what you would do normally.” 

Cyrus bit his lip and nodded, planting his feet slightly apart on the grass and throwing the frisbee as best as he could. He winced when it hurtled to the ground with a thud, before turning to TJ with an embarrassed smile. 

“That was fine!” the boy assured, “but I can give you a few pointers?”

Cyrus nodded, clearly expecting TJ to talk him through a few things. Instead though, the athlete dropped his bag on the ground and walked over to him. “Can I help you with your positioning?” 

The boy nodded again, and the hopeful part of TJ’s brain couldn’t help but think there was a slight blush on his cheeks. 

He took a few moments to clear his head, before standing behind Cyrus and reaching around him to take the hand that was holding the frisbee.

“When you did it before, it seemed more like a throw, but with a frisbee you wanna have more of a flicking motion, like this-“ He gently moved the boy’s hand to demonstrate. 

“Oh. Right. Gotcha.” 

“Can I also move your index finger slightly?”

The boy nodded again, and TJ gently moved it to the edge of the frisbee. “The placement for the other ones are fine, and your stance is pretty good too. Just make sure you follow through with your whole arm.”

TJ reluctantly let go and stepped away, moving to stand to the side. When he saw Cyrus’ face, even  _he_ couldn’t deny the fact that the boy was blushing now. TJ rationalised  that it was a mildly hot day - everyone’s face was probably a little red.

Cyrus threw the frisbee, and this time it glided cleanly through the air for a few seconds, before falling onto the grass. 

“Good job - that was better! Just make sure to keep an eye on that follow through.”

The boy practised a few more throws, and then they moved onto catching. After about 45 minutes, Cyrus was well and truly getting the hang of it. 

“TJ!” Cyrus laughed, practically skipping up to the boy. “Did you see that catch?!”

“I did - it was amazing! You’ll be giving Jonah a run for his money soon.”

The shorter boy gave him a shy smile. “Thanks again for helping me with this.”

“It was nothing,” TJ assured.

“And I’m sorry I was kind of a mess...especially at the start.” 

“What? No way - you were great!” he insisted, giving Cyrus a soft smile, “you always are.”

“Thanks. You’re...also pretty great.”

They looked at each other for a moment after that, and TJ swore he had never felt more nervous butterflies in his stomach.

He cleared his throat. “I guess we should probably head off, huh?”

“Yeah. Probably.”

They were both grabbing their bags when Cyrus said something that nearly made TJ fall over.

“I don’t like Jonah anymore, by the way. I haven’t for a while.”

The athlete froze for a few seconds, before turning to the boy in alarm. He was looking at him with what TJ swore was a knowing smile.

“Just thought you should know.” 

“Cool. Great. Or - um - I don’t know - not cool?”

“It’s cool,” Cyrus told him as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “Are we going now?”

TJ nodded eagerly and grabbed his bag, blushing furiously. “Um, yeah! Totally. Let’s do it.” 

 

~

 

On the walk home, Cyrus invited TJ over to do homework. Everything had been fine for the first hour or so, but the athlete was progressively becoming more and more distracted by the boy.

“Hello? Earth to TJ?”

“Sorry! I’m listening.”

“Okay...so you heard my explanation about prokaryotes and eukaryotes then?”

TJ gave Cyrus an apologetic smile, and the boy laughed. “I guess we  _have_ been doing your Bio stuff for a while now. Wanna take a break?”

“Yes please.”

Really - TJ wasn’t even overly tired, he just may or may not have been too busy staring at Cyrus to fully tune into the explanation.

“I’m so screwed for the test next week,” he sighed, flopping back onto the bed.

Cyrus shook his head. “You’ll be fine.” he assured, “you were good for the most part, and I’m sure your teacher could explain a few of the harder parts to you.”

“I guess...I just feel awkward talking to her in class.”

“Want me to help you write an email to her?”

TJ looked over at the boy with a thankful smile. “That’d be great. But - later on?”

“Sure.”

Silence fell for a few moments.

“Hey - is that eyeshadow?”

TJ sat up and pointed to a black palette that was sitting on Cyrus’ bedside table. 

The shorter boy laughed and nodded. “Yeah. It is.”

“It looks almost exactly like the one Amber has!”

“Yeah...we kinda went online shopping together. I’m still not even sure how she convinced me to buy it, but here we are.”

TJ chuckled at that.  _Classic Amber._

“Have you ever used it?” 

“Nope, not really.”

“We should put some on,” He suggested unthinkingly.

Cyrus gave him a startled look, but he smiled and nodded all the same. “Sure!” 

He stood up and grabbed the palette, before rummaging around in his drawers and pulling out a small brush. “This came with it,” he explained as he sat down.

TJ nodded, a nervous smile on his lips. It had only just struck him that they could be putting eyeshadow on each other - which would mean a whole of closeness that he _really_ wasn’t prepared for.

“I can do your’s if you want?” Cyrus offered as if he was practically reading TJ’s mind. “I’m no expert obviously, but Amber showed me a thing or two.”

“Um - sure!”

“Cool! What colour would you like? There’s a lot. 

The shorter boy handed him the palette, and he spent a few moments studying the colours. 

“Um...I’m not sure. What do you think would look good?”

Cyrus looked down at the colours and hummed thoughtfully. “This darker green would go well with your eyes.”

TJ grinned. “You think so?”

“Yeah. The colours are pretty similar - not that I look at your eyes or anything. I mean, not that I don’t look at them! They’re super nice but...oh man.”

The taller boy laughed slightly, and Cyrus buried his head in his hands with a mortified groan. “Why did I just say that?” he mumbled, his voice muffled by his hands. 

“Cyrus - it’s fine,” TJ assured him, a playful smile on his lips, “you have nice eyes too.”

The boy hesitantly raised his head at that. “Really?”

“Really.”

Cyrus grinned. “Thanks. So...what do you think of the dark green?”

“I like it! And I mean - if you think it’ll bring out my eyes...”

The boy laughed and playfully smacked his arm. “We don’t talk about that now!” 

“Okay,  _okay,”_  TJ teased, “I won’t ever speak of it again.”

“Thank you very much.” 

TJ handed Cyrus the palette, and he balanced it on his lap while he swirled the brush in the dark green colour. He was blushing slightly when he looked up again.

“Can I come a bit closer? And maybe hold your face? Sorry, that probably sounds weird...”

TJ smiled timidly. “It’s fine, don’t worry.”

Cyrus smiled back at him and shuffled closer so that the gap them was practically nonexistent. He placed a gentle hand on the athlete’s face, tilting his head upwards slightly.

“Okay...can you close your eyes?” 

TJ nodded and closed them, trying hard to keep all of his freaking out internal. It was very hard to do when he knew Cyrus was probably leaning in at that moment.

“So...how’s it going?"

Cyrus giggled slightly. “Not bad. How about you?”

“Not bad either.”

“Cool.”

“Great.”

He continued applying the eyeshadow for a few moments, before letting go of TJ’s face. 

“Okay, you can open them now.”

The athlete opened his eyes, and Cyrus gave him a wide smile. “I was totally right - it does bring out your eyes!”

Much to his own dismay, TJ could feel himself blushing. “So...it looks cute?”

“Totally! Uh, I mean - not that you need eyeshadow to look cute, you um - always are.”

TJ gave him an amused look, and Cyrus  groaned again. “I need to stop speaking!” 

They both laughed at that, and TJ tried hard to ignore the hopeful thoughts that were swirling around in his head.

“I should probably do your other eye now.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

 

~

 

 **Marty:**  ...i cannot believe this

 **Marty:**  he blushed when u helped him with frisbee? and told u that he doesn’t like Jonah anymore (which was CLEARLY supposed to be a follow up thing, TJ) and admitted to looking at ur eyes? and called u cute? 

 **TJ:** Yeah. We’re friends.

 **Marty:**  ...u can’t see, but I’m glaring at u rn

 **TJ:**  Goodnight, Marty ;-)

 

~

 

TJ was so caught up in his thoughts the following day at school, that he barely noticed Marty trying to get his attention. To be fair though - the athlete  _was_ having a bit of a crisis.

“TJ? Hello?”

He snapped out of his daze and turned to the boy. “Marty! What’s up?”

“Whoa - you look tired dude.”

“Me? Tired? Psh, no way.”

Marty quirked an eyebrow at him. “How many hours of sleep did you get?”

“Two or three? Honestly the whole night was kind of a blur. I’m not sure even sure if it was real.”

The boy gave him a disbelieving look and pulled him aside. “ _Why_ did you only get 2 or 3 hours of sleep?”

“I don’t know, too busy thinking I guess.”

“About what?”

“Cyrus,” he sighed. “I don’t know if he likes me back - I don’t think he does, but sometimes there are these moments where...I don’t know. I’m just confused!”

The boy looked overjoyed at this news, which TJ couldn’t help but scoff at. “What?” he asked him. “Why do you look  _happy_ about my suffering?

“You’re questioning whether he likes you! Phase 1 is progressing! And now I have news that’ll make you totally certain he likes you back.” 

TJ felt his stomach drop at that.  _News that would make him ‘totally certain’ Cyrus liked him back?_

He gave the boy a calculating look, but nodded nonetheless. “Okay. Hit me.”

“Cyrus is jealous of us.”

TJ laughed slightly.  _Okay - so his tired brain was making him hear things now, which definitely wasn’t a good sign._

“Come again? Don’t think I caught that.”

“Cyrus. Is. Jealous. Of. Us.”

_Wait - he wasn’t mishearing?_

“Good one, Marty! What’s the actual reason?”

The boy sighed. “I’m telling you - that’s it. Buffy told me that Cyrus asked her if you like me. She said he was acting strange about it too.”

“ _What?_ What did she say?!”

“She said she didn’t know.”

“Are you lying? You’re lying, right?”

“No - I’m not!” 

Everything around TJ seemed to blur as he took a startled step backwards.  _Cyrus thought he liked Marty? This could not be happening. Absolutely not._  

“Whatever. He wasn’t jealous - he was just...inquiring as a friend,” he rationalised.

Marty shook his head. “If he’s not jealous, then  _why_ is he staring at us like that?”

He was looking over TJ’s shoulder, so the athlete whirled around without a hint of subtlety. Sure enough - Cyrus was standing at his locker, staring at the pair. As soon as TJ turned around however, he shifted his gaze back to his friends.

TJ slowly turned back around, his eyes wide. A amazed smile came to his lips. “Marty. Could Cyrus like me?”

“Yes, you idiot!”

“Hell yeah!” TJ yelled, wincing at the glares he received. “Sorry,” he mumbled to the passers-by.

“But dude - he also kind of thinks you like me. You need to go fix that right now.”

“Yes! I do. I’ll go do that. Talk to you later about phase 2?”

Marty grinned and nodded. “Sure. Now go talk to him.” 

Despite his earlier exhaustion, TJ suddenly felt full of energy. For once, he did nothing to stifle the hopeful thoughts in his head as he jogged up to Cyrus.

“Hey Underdog!”

“Hey!”

TJ grinned. “When’s your next class?”

“In about 20 minutes.”

“Great! Could we talk?”

“Sure.” 

Neither of them moved, and TJ gave the boy an embarrassed smile. “In private maybe?”

“Oh right! Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

They found a spot in the corner of the football field and settled down there. It was another cloudless day and TJ wasn’t entirely sure if he was blushing because of the boy next to him or the heat.

“So, what’s up?” Cyrus asked.

“Well...I basically just wanted to tell you that I don’t like Marty. Not in that way, anyway - he’s great and all but he’s really just a friend.”

Cyrus seemed slightly panicked at that. “Did Buffy tell you something? I’m really really sorry, I just-“

“She didn’t tell me anything,” TJ assured. “I just...thought you should know.”

The boy smiled shyly at the familiar line. “Oh. That’s cool too.”

A comfortable silence fell after that, during which TJ could barely keep his eyes off Cyrus.

“Actually - there’s something else I need to tell you.” he blurted.

“Oh?”

“Yeah...I think you should know that I...um...”

His heart was hammering away in his chest, and he suddenly regretted saying anything.

“I...’m really glad we’re friends!” 

Cyrus looked visibly disappointed at that, but he immediately tried to cover it up with a smile. “I’m glad we’re friends too!”

The silence after that was significantly less comfortable, and TJ could feel his stomach turning.

_Marty was so going to kill him._

 

~

 

“I am  _so_ going to kill you!”

TJ couldn’t help a small smile.

“Listen - if I could go back in time, I would! But I can’t! So please just tell me what I should do.”

Marty sighed heavily. “Okay. But we need more time than this - can I Facetime you tonight?”

“Sure,” TJ sighed. “What do I do until then?”

“Just...keep flirting with him.”

“Okay,” he said dejectedly.

Marty softened slightly at that, and placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Hey - it’s fine, okay? You’re still in middle school, it’s totally normal to get nervous. We’re gonna do this. Trust me.”

TJ’s spirits were slightly lifted after that. “Thanks, dude...I’ll see you later?”

“I’ll see you later,” Marty confirmed.

 

~

 

“TJ Kippen I cannot  _believe_ you!”

The athlete couldn’t help but laugh. “Hey, Buffy. Did I press the wrong contact or something? Because I was kinda trying to Facetime Marty.”

“I’m here!” came a muffled voice in the background.

“Okay...so I didn’t press the wrong contact then.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Buffy exclaimed. “The  _real_ problem here is that you chickened out of telling Cyrus you like him last minute!”

TJ groaned at that - he should’ve known that Cyrus would tell his friends what happened, but how much did she know? Most importantly - had she known what was going on this  _whole_ time? 

“I got scared, okay?!”

“ _Scared_? But you know he likes you back! And now he’s not even sure whether or not  _you_ like him.”

“Wait - he’s not sure if I like him?”

“Well what did you expect him to think?”

“Shit,” TJ muttered.

Suddenly, he had the urge to just call Cyrus and tell him everything, but he decided against that very quickly.

Marty seemed to have taken the phone from Buffy after that, because they were both in frame now.

“Okay, okay - let’s just chill out and come up with a plan for next time,” The boy suggested.

Buffy hesitated for a moment, before nodding in agreement.

“Before that though - since when does Buffy know about all this?” TJ asked. 

Marty didn’t respond, but the guilty look on his face was telling enough. 

“You  _told_ her?”

“I tell her everything! I’m sorry! And I only told her like yesterday, I promise.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Yeah. And can I just say that you should’ve just told Cyrus from the get-go? Why did you guys even  _need_ to do all this?”

“Because I’m a disaster!” TJ groaned.

Marty sighed. “Okay guys - the plan?” 

“Easy. I say you just walk up to him, tell him you like him, and be done with it. Straight up,” Buffy said.

Marty gave her an incredulous look. “That’s not romantic!”

“We’re in middle school! Who even cares?”

“ _I_ care!” he retorted.

" _Why?"_

" _Because!"_

“That’s not a reason!”

TJ watched the exchange in amusement for a moment, before pointedly clearing his throat. “I uh...wouldn’t mind something kind of romantic.”

Marty grinned knowingly at that, while Buffy just rolled her eyes.

“Exactly! You totally have to give him something sweet at the very least.”

“Like what?” She questioned.

Marty thought about it for a few moments, before his face lit up with an idea. “A necklace! Or - maybe a bracelet?”

“...You want me to buy a bracelet for him?”

“No, no, that’s too impersonal.”

 Buffy looked conflicted by this, but eventually she bit her lip and nodded. “I guess that _could_ be cute.” she conceded. “Maybe we could ask Andi for help?”

Marty’s eyes widened, and he turned to the girl with a bright smile. “Yes! That’s great! TJ - is there a word that you’d both understand? Like an inside thing?” 

TJ thought about it for a few seconds -  _Something they’d both understand?_  He thought back to all the nicknames they had for each other, and all the inside jokes they shared. One word seemed to stand out from the rest.

“Yeah. There is.”

 

~

 

2 days had passed since that Facetime call, and TJ was anxiously pacing back and forth in his room. 

After explaining everything to Andi, she was more than happy to help TJ make a bracelet for Cyrus, and they had managed to finish it within a day or so. It was currently sitting on his desk, and he couldn’t help but glance at it nervously as he paced.

 _What if Cyrus hated it? It was far,_ far  _too late to make another._

TJ had messaged the boy 5 minutes ago asking if he wanted to meet at the park, and he responded almost instantly saying that he’d be there in 10 minutes. 

_He had 5 minutes to get there now, and here he was pacing around in his room._

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, before straightening his shirt and grabbing the bracelet from his desk.

_Okay, TJ. You’ve got this. You’ve faced scarier things than this._

The walk was a relatively short one, but it had felt like an eternity by the time TJ arrived. The cloudy sky above him looked particularly dark, and he had the brief thought that maybe he should’ve checked the forecast.

_Well. No turning back now._

He saw Cyrus in the distance swinging alone, and just like that nerves began to kick in. He pocketed the bracelet and headed over to the swingset, trying his best to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

_It was just Cyrus. The guy you’ve been talking to for 6 months now. This was just another hang-out._

The boy saw him approaching, and he jumped off the swing with a smile.

“Hey!”

“Hey, Underdog - you’re getting good at that!”

“Thanks! I honestly can’t believe I was ever afraid to swing high.”

They were standing relatively close now, and TJ swore his heart was going to burst with how fast it was racing. Every thought he had about sticking to a plan went out the window. 

_Sorry Marty._

“So,” Cyrus began, “did you wanna tell me something specific or is this just a hang-out?”

“Um...I kind of wanted to tell you something if that’s okay.”

“Is it that you’re glad we’re friends?” Cyrus asked, a teasing smile on his lips.

TJ could feel himself blushing at that, but he pressed on. “No...not this time.”

The boy’s face brightened slightly at that. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I...kinda had a whole speech planned out for this, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“A speech?”

TJ just nodded, trying hard to keep his cool despite the fact that Cyrus had taken another small step forward.

The boy was looking at him expectantly now, and suddenly TJ had the urge to run away and forget he had ever said anything. He quickly brushed that thought off - Buffy would definitely kill him for that. 

_Okay. They were very close now. In the middle of a park. And he was about to confess to liking him. And it looked like it was about to start raining any second. Everything was totally fine._

“...That sounds pretty elaborate,” he murmured.

TJ’s breath caught slightly when Cyrus took another small step forward. The athlete’s eyes took in detail they could of the boy, from his lightly rosy cheeks to his wind-swept hair.

 

_Screw it._

 

“Yeah. But I think this might be a better way of telling you.”

TJ moved forward unthinkingly and cupped the boy’s face, before gently bringing their lips together. Cyrus stilled with shock for a moment, before smiling softly and pressing into it. The boy’s hands immediately went to TJ’s shoulders.

It was chaste and somewhat clumsy, but it was also sweet and it somehow had TJ’s heart soaring. Despite the chilling breeze, he felt warm as they pulled away.

“...I’m guessing this means you like me?” Cyrus teased.

The athlete smiled bashfully and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, I like you too...a lot.”

They remained like that for a few moments, with TJ’s hands now wrapped around the boy’s waist.

“Oh!” he gasped. “I totally forgot.”

He let go of the boy and stepped back slightly, pulling out the bracelet from his pocket. Cyrus gave him an amazed smile as he handed it to him.

“Andi helped me,” he explained, “we used magazines and other things to make it pride-themed, then we used beads to spell out  ‘Underdog.’ I know it’s not much, but-“

“I love it,” Cyrus told him. “I’m never taking it off.”

TJ had an adoring smile on his lips as he watched as the boy slip the bracelet onto his wrist. 

When it was secured, Cyrus glanced up at the sky. “I think it’s gonna start raining soon,” he commented.

“True...how would you feel about about retreating to The Spoon for celebratory milkshakes?”

Cyrus gave the athlete a soft smile and reached out to take his hand. “It’s a date.”

 

~

 

 **TJ:** So uh...Cyrus and I are dating now?

 **Buffy:**  FINALLY

 **Buffy:**  Can I Facetime you in like 10 so you can tell me everything? I have to call Cyrus first

 **TJ:** Yup! But only bc I’m lowkey dying to tell someone abt it

 **Andi:** Awww yay <3

 **Andi:**  Group facetime plz?

 **Buffy:**  I’ll add you!

 

[Marty changed the group chat name to ‘ _Marty is single-handedly responsible for Tyrus_ ’]

 

 **TJ:** Marty ur annoying 

 **Marty:**  i’m also the reason u have a boyfriend. so be grateful 

 **TJ:** I’m not 

 **TJ:**  (I am a little)

 **Marty:** u know what this means right?

 **TJ:**  Enlighten me

 **Marty:** PHASE 2 IS COMPLETE! and it only took 5 days 

 **Buffy:**  ‘Only’

 **Marty:** oh, u think u could’ve done better?

 **Buffy:**  Definitely 

 **Marty:**  :-(( 

 **TJ:**  Welp none of that matters now bc I HAVE A BOYFRIEND 

 **Andi:** You do! And while we’re on the subject,  I have a girlfriend now 

 **TJ:**  WHAT

 **Buffy:**  WHAT

 **Marty:**  WHAT


End file.
